Notes from Iraq. Dec 2007.
You may have noticed we’ve gone straight from October to December as I re-post web site updates from my 2007 deployment to Iraq. Somehow, I can’t find November or I ended up not writing one that month. I did have to take emergency leave so this may well be the case. There is some good stuff from November though and perhaps I’ll tell you all about it down the road. In the meantime, enjoy a little Christmas in May.
From the December 2007 web page update:
Season’s greetings and mele kalikimaka!!
Counterinsurgency is always interestin’
In the land where the heat is blisterin’
It’s a beautiful sight
I’m all dressed up for a fight
Walking ‘round in ballistic underwear
December is a month that always reminds me of things like caroling, sleigh rides, partridges, pear trees, and keeping the free world safe for democracy.
The weather is beginning to turn rather brisk and at some point I’m sure we will begin to wonder if we were better off broiling rather than freezing. The good news is that the mosquitoes that drank our blood by the gallon have decided to hibernate. They have been replaced by an army of field mice that much like your in-laws, have moved in for the holidays and feel no compunction to leave. I was sitting down eating chow the other day and one of them pulled up a chair and asked if I was going to finish my biscuits and gravy.
The temperature does lend itself to the season and you can see me in the picture above opening boxes to hand out to the Marines. The support from home has been phenomenal. Packages, Christmas stockings, and other seasonal essentials continue to flow in. We’ve gotten stacks of comic books, socks, shirts, goodies, and most importantly coffee and cigars. God bless America! How about some mouse traps too?
Of course, during this time of year we just can’t get our hands on enough garland, tinsel, and other decorations. I have to have something to keep the men busy otherwise I’ll blink my eyes and find the Marines have built a nativity scene complete with local Iraqi shepherds and live animals wandering around the berthing area.
Your Marines have been doing a lot of good out here. Shepherds are abiding in the fields, local shops and markets are blossoming and people are returning home. We’ve even opened another school in our area. Santa likes it when we do that. Your support has had a much larger impact on the bigger picture than many of you will ever know.
Semper Fidelis,
Jolly Ol’ 1stSgt
We built the schools in Iraq. The Saudis and Iranians provided the teachers. They plan for the long term much, much better than we do.
We built a school in town. A couple months later, the locals complained that too many kids were getting run over crossing the street. (Yes, their driving really is that bad. No, they don't care. At all.) Their solution was for us to build another school on the other side, so no kids would ever have to cross the street. We told them that was ridiculous. They needed to go out there and be crossing guards for their own children. It would take a half an hour out of their busy day of waiting around for the next handout. We even brought out a box of reflective PT belts.
They refused. Absolutely and categorically. There was no way any of them would do something that might help another man's sons (you don't really believe they allowed girls to attend school, do you?) without being paid. Even at the cost of their own sons' lives.
So how successful was the hearts and minds campaign?